2 killed, more than a dozen injured in train ambush in Thailand's south on day of Obama visit

PATTANI, Thailand – Suspected insurgents have detonated an improvised bomb that derailed a train and killed two railway guards in Thailand's south, hours before President Barack Obama visits the country.

The Sunday attack in Rue So district of Narathiwat province disrupted train services in the three violence-plagued southernmost provinces.

Police Col. Dulyaman Yaena said an unknown number of insurgents exchanged gunfire with other railway guards before fleeing.

Two railway guards died from wounds caused by the explosion while 15 others were hospitalized.

More than 5,000 people have been killed since an Islamist insurgency erupted in the region in 2004.

The incident was the second attack on the weekend Obama arrives in Thailand. He will also visit Myanmar and Cambodia. In the other incident, one person was killed when a motorcycle bomb exploded.